You’ve done everything right. You’ve optimized your on-page SEO, your content is top-notch, and your website is technically sound. Yet, you’re stuck on page two of Google, watching your competitors enjoy the lion’s share of organic traffic. What’s their secret?
Often, the differentiating factor isn’t what’s on their site, but who is linking to their site. The authority passed by high-quality backlinks is one of the most powerful ranking signals.
But how do you find these powerful link-building opportunities? You don’t need a crystal ball; you need a backlink gap analysis.
This guide will walk you through exactly what a backlink gap analysis is, why it’s a non-negotiable strategy in 2025, and, most importantly, we’ll dive deep into the top 10 tools that can give you a direct blueprint to outrank your competition.
1. RanksPro Backlink Checker
RanksPro offers a powerful yet intuitive backlink gap analyzer integrated into its all-in-one SEO platform. It’s designed to help users monitor backlink growth, analyze link quality, and perform competitor gap analysis—all with clear visual dashboards and affordable pricing.
If you’re looking for an affordable, intuitive backlink gap and analysis tool bundled into a larger SEO stack, RanksPro delivers strong value, easy reporting, and good enough link data—especially for small-to-mid-sized teams.
- Monthly Backlink Tracking: Tracks your backlink profile over time, documenting new and lost links.
- Referring Domain Monitoring: Presents a breakdown of referring domains to your site, showing diversity and exposure.
- Link Quality & Spam Score Analysis: Every link is rated with domain rating and spam score metrics.
- Anchor Text Distribution & Link Context: Shows types of anchor texts used, helping you see if over-optimization is a risk.
- Backlink Gap & Competitor Comparison: The backlink gap tool compares your referring domains with competitor domains, highlighting untapped opportunities.
Pros:
- Reviewers highlight how intuitive and clean the UI is, even for SEO beginners.
- Offers more capabilities at a lower monthly cost compared to other big-brand alternatives like Ahrefs and Semrush.
- Link analysis is tightly integrated with rank tracking, site audits, keyword tools, and AI features on one platform.
Cons:
- Database is growing consistently, so users need to refresh the stats after a few uses.
- Some features are in beta version like site audit.
Pricing: Starts from $19/month.
2. Ahrefs Link Gap Tool
Ahrefs boasts one of the largest and most active backlink indexes on the web. Its “Link Gap” tool is incredibly intuitive and powerful, making it a favorite among SEO professionals.
You simply enter your domain and up to ten competitors. Ahrefs then generates a clean, comprehensive report of domains that link to your competitors but not to you. Its proprietary metrics, Domain Rating (DR) and URL Rating (UR), are industry benchmarks for measuring website authority.
Top Features:
- Referring Domains Intersect: Lists domains linking to multiple competitors but not your site—sorted by DR, traffic, and number of competitor overlaps.
- Referring Pages Intersect: Lets you examine individual pages linking to competitors, ideal for spotting contextual backlinks, listicles, or resource mentions you can pitch.
- Advanced Filtering Options: Filter by DR (domain rating), traffic volume, dofollow status, language, or exact match competitors to refine link prospects.
- Exportable Reports: Download complete lists of referring domains and pages with metrics—you can export per domain or globally for streamlined outreach.
Pros:
- Massive backlink database, updated constantly.
- Extremely user-friendly and intuitive interface.
- Powerful filtering options to pinpoint the best opportunities.
- Provides historical backlink data.
- Part of a comprehensive suite of SEO tools (keyword research, site audit, etc.).
Cons:
- It’s a premium tool with a higher price point.
- No free trial is currently offered, only paid plans.
Pricing: Starts at $129/month.
3. Semrush
Semrush is a direct competitor to Ahrefs and offers a similarly robust “Backlink Gap” tool. It allows you to compare your backlink profile against up to five competitors simultaneously. Its strength lies in its integration with a vast suite of other marketing tools.
Semrush provides an “Authority Score” to help you quickly assess the quality of linking domains. The results table clearly shows which competitors have a link from a specific domain, making it easy to identify opportunities where multiple rivals are getting links—a strong signal of a high-value target.
Top Features:
- Backlink Audit: Automatically analyzes your backlink profile, flags toxic or low-quality links based on Authority Score and spam signals; lets you export disavow files directly to Google Search Console for cleaner link health.
- Backlink Gap Comparison: Instantly shows which referring domains are linking to competitors but not you, with sorting by Authority Score, monthly visits, and how many competitors share each referring domain.
- Trend Chart Display: Visualizes backlink growth over time for each domain you compare—helps you track competitor link acceleration and spot outreach potential.
- Seamless Export & Copilot Insights: One-click export to CSV/XLS; integrated with SEMrush Copilot, offering AI-generated outreach tips based on your backlink gaps.
Pros:
- Large and regularly updated link database.
- Excellent competitive analysis features beyond just backlinks.
- Seamless integration with its keyword research, advertising, and content marketing toolkits.
- Offers a free (though limited) trial to test the features.
Cons:
- The interface can feel slightly more cluttered than Ahrefs due to the sheer number of features.
- Some advanced data is locked behind higher-tier plans, that’s why there are multiple Semrush alternatives available.
Pricing: Starts at $117.33/month.
4. Moz Link Explorer
Moz pioneered the concept of “Domain Authority,” and its Link Explorer tool is a solid contender. While its backlink index may not be as vast as Ahrefs or Semrush, its “Link Intersect” feature is powerful and easy to use.
Moz excels at presenting data in a clean, digestible format. The Link Intersect tool allows you to see where up to five competitors get their links. Its proprietary DA and Page Authority (PA) scores are widely used across the industry to gauge a site’s ranking potential.
Top Features:
- Domain Authority & Page Authority Metrics: Use well-known Moz metrics to prioritize linking domains based on their SEO strength.
- Spam Score Detection: Each domain shows a Spam Score to help avoid outreach to potentially harmful or low-quality sites.
- Anchor Text Analysis: Understand how competitors are using anchor text—informs how you can diversify yours strategically.
- Side-by-Side Competitor Comparison: Compare up to four domains simultaneously to spot shared linking domains that might link to you next.
Pros:
- The originator of the widely-respected Domain Authority (DA) metric.
- Very clean and beginner-friendly user interface.
- The “Spam Score” metric is useful for weeding out low-quality link targets.
- Offers a generous 30-day free trial.
Cons:
- Its link index is smaller and updated less frequently than Ahrefs and Semrush.
- Fewer advanced filtering options compared to the top two.
Pricing: Starts at $49/month.
5. Majestic
Majestic is a specialized link intelligence tool. It doesn’t try to be an all-in-one platform; it focuses solely on backlinks and does it exceptionally well. Its proprietary metrics, Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF), are invaluable for assessing link quality.
Majestic’s “Compare Tool” allows for a deep dive into the backlink profiles of multiple sites. Its key differentiator is its massive historical index, which lets you see link data going back years. This can be crucial for understanding a competitor’s long-term strategy.
Top Features:
- Trust Flow & Citation Flow Metrics: Two complementary trust indicators that help you assess link quality vs quantity—inform outreach priority.
- Clique Hunter: Automatically identifies domains linking to two or more competitors but not you—you get ready-made targets with high relevance.
- Fresh Index Updates: Offers recent backlink data via its Fresh Index—useful for chasing emerging link opportunities.
- Topical Trust Flow: Understand the thematic relevance of referring domains based on topic or keyword clusters—helps ensure contextually relevant outreach.
Pros:
- Unique and highly valuable metrics: Trust Flow and Citation Flow.
- Massive historical link index is unmatched.
- Excellent for in-depth, link-only analysis.
- Often more affordable than the all-in-one suites.
Cons:
- Steeper learning curve; the interface is more data-heavy and less intuitive for beginners.
- Lacks the other SEO features (keyword research, etc.) that integrated suites offer.
Pricing: Starts at around $49.99/month.
6. SE Ranking
SE Ranking has emerged as a powerful and incredibly cost-effective all-in-one SEO platform. Its “Backlink Gap Analyzer” is straightforward, effective, and delivers exceptional value for its price point.
The tool is easy to use: enter your domain and up to two competitors to find your gaps. It provides Domain Trust and Page Trust scores, similar to Majestic and Moz. For the price, the quality and breadth of data are outstanding.
Top Features:
- Competitor Domain Comparison: Enter up to five competitor domains or URLs and instantly view which referring domains are missing from your site but linking to them.
- Domain Trust & Page Trust Metrics: Each potential backlink is rated using proprietary trust scores (DT/PT), making it easier to prioritize higher-quality outreach prospects.
- Live Monitoring & Alerts: Tracks new and lost backlinks over time and flags potentially toxic links; integrates with SE Ranking’s Backlink Monitoring tool.
- Custom Filters & Easy Export: Filter by nofollow/follow, trust scores, or anchor text relevance; export full CSV/XLS for outreach lists or reporting.
Pros:
- Extremely competitive pricing makes it accessible to everyone.
- Surprisingly robust feature set for the cost.
- Clean UI and easy-to-understand reports.
- Full suite of tools including rank tracking, site audits, and keyword research.
Cons:
- The backlink database isn’t as large as the industry leaders like Ahrefs.
- The base plan has limits on daily reports and checks.
Pricing: Starts at a highly affordable $52/month.
7. Ubersuggest
Acquired and massively improved by Neil Patel, Ubersuggest is designed to make SEO accessible. Its “Backlink Opportunity” tool is a simplified version of a backlink gap analysis that gets the job done effectively.
Ubersuggest simplifies the process. You enter your domain and a competitor’s domain, and it shows you a list of sites linking to them but not you. It’s not as feature-rich as others, but its simplicity is its strength for new users.
Top Features:
- Backlink Overview: Displays total backlinks, referring domains, anchor text distribution, and link growth trends over time—helping you understand your site’s backlink baseline.
- Backlink Opportunity Tool: Compare your domain with up to five competitors to pinpoint sites linking to rivals but missing you—grouped by domain authority and link volume.
- Top Pages Insight: Shows competitor pages earning the most backlinks—great for identifying content themes worth replicating in your outreach.
- User‑Friendly Visuals: Ubersuggest uses simple charts and graphs to display link metrics—making it easy for non-technical users to spot opportunities.
Pros:
- Very affordable, with a functional free version available.
- Extremely simple and beginner-friendly interface.
- Provides core metrics like Domain Authority and Spam Score.
Cons:
- Much smaller link database compared to premium tools.
- Lacks advanced filtering and multi-competitor analysis in one go.
Pricing: Offers a free plan with daily limits; paid plans start at $29/month.
8. Mangools LinkMiner
Mangools is a suite of five SEO tools, and LinkMiner is its backlink analysis component. While it doesn’t have a dedicated “gap” tool, you can easily replicate the process by analyzing competitor domains and exporting the link lists. Its real standout feature is its design.
LinkMiner makes analyzing backlinks enjoyable. It displays key metrics (Citation Flow, Trust Flow, DA) in a colorful, intuitive layout. A killer feature is the built-in website preview, which lets you see what the linking page looks like directly within the tool, saving immense time.
Top Features:
- Competitor Backlink Comparison: Quickly identifies linking domains your competitors share, while filtering ones you don’t have—ideal for prioritizing outreach targets.
- Link Strength Metric: Assesses quality by combining Trust Flow and Citation Flow, allowing you to instantly see how powerful each prospect backlink is.
- Page Preview & Anchor Highlighting: You can preview the linking page and see anchor placement directly within the tool—streamlining evaluation and outreach decisions.
- Save Favorites & Export Easily: Bookmark promising domains into lists and export results for fast outreach planning or team collaboration.
Pros:
- Arguably the best user interface on this list.
- Website preview feature is a massive time-saver.
- Integrates data from Majestic, giving it powerful metrics.
- Great value for money as part of the Mangools suite.
Cons:
- No dedicated, one-click “gap analysis” feature.
- Relies on Majestic’s index, so it’s not an independent database.
Pricing: Starts at $24.50/month.
9. SEO SpyGlass (from SEO PowerSuite)
Part of the SEO PowerSuite, SEO SpyGlass is a downloadable desktop application. This means you aren’t limited by monthly rows or reports like web-based apps. Its “Domain Comparison” module is a powerful backlink gap analyzer.
You can compare your site to up to 10 competitors, pulling data from its massive index or even connecting to the Google Search Console API. Because it’s a desktop tool, you can sort, filter, and analyze enormous datasets without browser lag.
Top Features:
- Extensive Backlink Dashboard: Displays referring domains, backlinks, anchor text, link types, and historical data, including lost and gained links.
- Penalty Risk Meter: Flags potentially harmful links based on spam indicators and helps you safely build disavow files.
- Link Intersection Analysis: Identifies domains linking to competitors but not you—spotlight backlink gap opportunities.
- Bulk & Historical Analysis: Supports large-scale domain comparisons, exports, and historical backlink insights—without recurring SaaS fees.
Pros:
- One-time purchase or yearly subscription model, often more cost-effective long-term.
- No artificial limits on projects or backlinks analyzed.
- Highly customizable reporting and deep data analysis.
- Can pull data from multiple sources.
Cons:
- Being a desktop app feels less modern and requires installation.
- The interface can be complex and overwhelming for new users.
Pricing: Offers a free (limited) version. Paid version starts from $29.10/month.
10. CognitiveSEO
CognitiveSEO is a powerful tool that offers a unique spin. Its “Visual Link Explorer” and competitive analysis tools are excellent for backlink gap analysis. Its major differentiator is its focus on “unnatural link detection,” which can help you avoid targeting spammy or toxic domains that might be linking to your competitors.
It provides a very clean comparison chart showing link velocity (how fast competitors are acquiring links) and a breakdown of link quality. This helps you not only find gaps but also understand the strategy and sustainability of your competitor’s link building.
Top Features:
- Site Explorer & Referral Analysis: View fresh and historical backlinks, anchor clouds, broken links, and context-rich linking domains.
- Unnatural Link Detection: Automatically spots potentially toxic backlinks and recommends disavow decisions—reducing Google penalty risk.
- Link Gap & Competitor Comparison: Compare backlink profiles with competitors and identify missed domains they’re linked from—and you aren’t.
- Integrated Content Assistant: Suggests on-page improvements using NLP and semantic relevance—supporting content that attracts better backlinks.
Pros:
- Advanced unnatural link detection.
- Great data visualizations and link velocity charts.
- Comprehensive analysis of link context and quality.
Cons:
- Can be more expensive and complex for basic gap analysis.
- The interface takes some getting used to.
Pricing: Starts at $129.99/month.
Final Words: Make a Smarter, Worthy Choice!
Whether you’re a solopreneur, an in-house SEO specialist, or part of an agency team, the right backlink gap analysis tool can give you a significant edge in search visibility. But not every tool fits every goal.
For Beginners and Small Businesses, here will be the top picks:
- CognitiveSEO – Ideal for analyzing unnatural links and deep-diving into link velocity and anchor context.
- Ubersuggest – Budget-friendly and beginner-friendly with solid backlink gap insights.
- Mangools LinkMiner – Simple, visual, and excellent for evaluating link quality at a glance.
For Intermediate SEOs and Growing Teams:
- SEO SpyGlass (by SEO PowerSuite) – A one-time purchase with powerful competitor link tracking.
- Ahrefs – Unmatched index size and trusted by professionals for serious link-building and competitive audits.
- SE Ranking – Good for ongoing monitoring with alerts and smart integrations.
For Agencies, Power Users, and Large-Scale Campaigns:
- RanksPro Backlink Checker – Great all-in-one SEO platform for small businesses with backlink comparison, anchor insights, and competitor tracking.
- SEMrush – Best for all-in-one marketing teams with cross-channel SEO + PPC integration.
- Moz Link Explorer – Balanced choice with accurate domain metrics and clean UI.
- Majestic – A great technical choice with Trust Flow & Citation Flow metrics for serious link evaluators.
Your competitors are leaving a trail of breadcrumbs leading directly to better rankings. A backlink gap analysis is your map to follow that trail. Pick a tool from this list that fits your budget and needs, run your first analysis today, and start systematically closing the gap between you and the #1 spot.
